Carroll County has 11 weather or emergency sirens that can be activated individually or simultaneously. Sirens will be activated whenever conditions dangerous to safety are confirmed, (including hazardous material spills, or other threats) or in the event of a tornado warning. When citizens hear a siren, they should seek shelter and tune in to weather radios or local news for specifics of storm movement.

County sirens make a long, slow wail, last approximately three minutes, and are tested the first Saturday of each month.

Additionally residents along the Tippecanoe River may hear sirens operated by Camp Tecumseh. These sirens emit a high/low tone, are tested each Monday morning at 9 a.m. and are activated only for tornado WARNINGS.

Citizens are encouraged to become informed about severe weather, and report sightings to the Carroll County Sheriffs Department at (765) 564-2413 as well as National Weather Service at (317) 856-0360. I also strongly encourage every county resident to own and know how to operate a NOAA all-hazards radio.

The National Weather Service promotes the Skywarn Program to train individuals to spot and properly report severe weather conditions to http://www.weather.gov/skywarn/ Indianapolis. NWS representative David Tucek recently presented a Skywarn program in Delphi. He can be reached at David.Tucek@NOAA.GOV.

Free in-depth courses on severe weather are offered online at: https://www.meted.ucar.edu /loginForm.php?urlPath=hazw x#, and http://www.srh.weather.gov/jetstream. These courses explain weather patterns, limitations in forecasting and potential dangers. The first listing is the course taught by FEMA, under course #IS-271.

McDowell can be reached at Carroll County EMA, 101 W. Main St., Room 1-B, Delphi, IN 46923 or E-mail at dmcdowell@ cacoshrf.com or by phone at (765) 564-4243 or by cell at 564-0028.